About

NWSA Art Basel exhibitions explore the future

on 03 December 2018.

New World School of the Arts (NWSA) returns to The Yard@CasaLin in Wynwood for the 13th consecutive year of successful installation and performance-based artworks. This year, NWSA has also been invited to activate The Kampong National Tropical Botanical Garden in Coconut Grove. The two shows, Diaspora and Diaspora 2, will continue the tradition of performative brunch events, examining the language of Miami’s sub-tropical location through the lens of our agrarian landscape and the people who live and work here.

DIASPORA examines that relationship of land, people and plants through a simultaneous manifestation of past and present as seen from the perspective of our collective future. The act of fortune telling will feature prominently; guests will be able to have their fortunes told from a card set drawn from local narratives featuring imagery created by the NWSA’s foundational WARP studio class (Workshop in Artist Research and Practice). New World School of the Arts visual arts faculty members Kathleen Hudspeth and Don Lambert co-authored the works in Diaspora, working with the WARP students in collaborative production. The resulting performative installation, Fortunes, combines sculptural installation, performance, wearables, and food activations set in an urban backyard paradise.

About CasaLin: Owned by art collector Lin Lougheed, the yard of this Wynwood residence has hosted a temporary, outdoor, site-specific installation annually during Miami Art Week since 2002; the show has been exclusively coordinated by New World School of the Arts since 2005. Every year, CasaLin is featured as a selected Art Basel Miami Beach VIP event.

DIASPORA 2 includes a reprise of Fortunes and offer artworks created by New World School of the Arts college BFA students, separately, or in collaboration with Donald Lambert, which will examine that relationship of land, people and plants through a simultaneous manifestation of our collective future as seen from the perspective of present and past. The artworks playfully utilize the unique environment of the lush, former home of Dr. David Fairchild, noted botanical explorer, to spur collaborative works such as Love Love, a dance-based performance by Lambert and choreographer NWSA Dance senior Maya Billig, Call and Return, a performance utilizing banners and vocalists, by Lambert and Visual Arts senior Gabriela Beltran, and a curated section of individual works by current NWSA college BFA students. Mark Dion’s permanent installation, David Fairchild’s Laboratory, remains on view at The Kampong and offers a complementary conceptual framework for NWSA’s activations.

About The Kampong: Originally the bayside home of Dr. David Fairchild, The Kampong is now one of five gardens in the U. S. National Tropical Botanical Garden system, and the only one located outside of Hawaii. The Kampong’s unique architecture and extensive plantings of tropical fruits, palms, cycads and flowering trees serve as a living classroom for academics, students and enthusiasts.

About New World School of the Arts: NWSA is a high school and college level conservatory degree program located in downtown Miami, FL. New World School of the Arts was created by the Florida Legislature in 1984 as a center of excellence in the performing and visual arts. It is an educational partnership of Miami-Dade County Public Schools, Miami Dade College, and the University of Florida; areas of study include Dance, Music, Theater and Visual Arts. All NWSA faculty practice professionally in their fields and guide an exceptionally diverse student body. The community of learners and educators at NWSA reflect the make-up of South Florida, with a majority-minority student body whose heritage or origin reflects the multiplicity of cultures and languages of the Caribbean.

ABOUT NEW WORLD SCHOOL OF THE ARTSA Florida center of excellence in the visual and performing arts, New World School of the Arts is an educational partnership of Miami-Dade County Public Schools, Miami Dade College and the University of Florida. NWSA provides a comprehensive program of artistic, creative, and academic development through a curriculum that reflects our community and the rich multicultural state of Florida. Through our partners NWSA confers the high school diploma, Associate of Arts degree, and Bachelor of Fine Arts and Bachelor of Music degrees in programs accredited by the National Association of Schools of Dance, Music, Theater and Art & Design. New World School of the Arts' rigorous eight-year curriculum and conservatory-style teaching has empowered students in our community and our nation to become leaders in the arts for more than 30 years.

Providing access is one of New World School of the Arts most important missions. Blind to academic standing at the onset, NWSA’s acceptance policy is based solely on artistic talent. This allows students from all backgrounds, ethnicities and socioeconomic status to compete for their spot in the school’s coveted arts programs based on their individual talent. Once accepted, students are expected to achieve both academically and artistically. Earning respected national merit and leadership-based scholarships such as the Gates Scholarship, Posse Foundation Scholars, and Presidential Scholars in the Arts, NWSA students have demonstrated over the years that a rigorous arts curriculum not only helps foster their passion and create the next generation or artists, but it also helps students engage and achieve excellence in any academic discipline.

New World School of the Arts has educated, trained, and cultivated a generation of artists who have become the artistic leaders of the future. Graduates from the high school and college programs of NWSA are award-winning artists, playwrights and performers with Academy, Emmy, Tony, Grammy and Bessie Awards. They are influential painters, sculptors and graphic designers, and their work thrives in museums and galleries, as well as on stages and concert halls around the globe. Our alumni are a source of inspiration to young artists from all walks of life in our community and in our state, and their success is a testament of the possibilities that emerge when the right blend of support and resources are engaged.

For more information please contact the New World School of the Arts Visual Arts division at 305-237-3649 or visit us at nwsa.mdc.edu.

New World School of the Arts was created by the Florida Legislature in 1984 as a center of excellence in the performing and visual arts. It is an educational partnership of Miami-Dade County Public Schools, Miami Dade College, and the University of Florida.